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With Wii U all but dead now: What had the better life, The Dreamcast or Wii U?

Roe

Member
I have a feeling Nintendo was betting on HD Nintendo games pulling most of the weight on the Wii U. Besides that, the U controller didn't have what the Wii had: Imagination.

Everyone wanted to play games using the Wii Mote. After that, the Wii U screen controller supplement didn't pull as much weight, and nintendo tried to remaster a couple games to pull the weight of the console, but it ultimately failed to deliver at all other aspects.
 

MacTag

Banned
Looking at the release list on Wiki and seeing how every month has atleast one game that gets named in all the Dreamcast lists is something I can't see your point that the Dreamcast suffered droughts - especially if you compare it with Nintendo consoles.
Sure if you're talking any releases. Personally I wasn't really excited for things like Sengoku Turb or Seventh Cross at the time. Of course by that standard Wii U has around 2-3 releases every week these days, but it still feels like a good amount of time between Nintendo games or indie standouts. I don't think it's really that different.
 

Celine

Member
But the question is what had a better life? And that can be answered by metrics such as market longevity, hardware sales and software sales. If it's about the games lineup then OP is asking the wrong question imo because that should have been which dead console you prefer, which I did say would vary because that's subjective.
I agree with you.
 

Shahed

Member
I had more free time then but I did buy a Dreamcast pretty early and it's got several of my favourite games of all time

I've been meaning to get a Wii U but time has been more of an issue than anything, and at this point I'll just wait till NX. But even then the only games I really want to play are Zelda HD, Zelda HD and Xenoblade.
 
When we look back on Wii U's library in 10 years nobody is going to miss the yearly sports titles.

I disagree. Ask anyone that was playing games at the time, and they still remember the Sega 2K sport titles fondly. The difference between what Visual Concepts was doing and what EA was making at the time was huge. They are probably among the very few sport games that people actively go back and play.
 

dracula_x

Member
definitely Dreamcast – because a much more wider variety of games, better third-party support, and hardware wasn't outdated at launch.
 
Dreamcast for me, Mario Maker and Splatoon only stand out for me on Wii U, everything else was just sequels. I think PSO was the best online game on both systems and that's kind of sad.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
Also, since I think there's some lacking Dreamcast lists in this thread.

There are a lot of niche cult classics I'm going to list here, but the fact the Dreamcast has a ton of niche cult classics says a lot about it compared to the WiiU library, which is mostly composed of a few known quality titles, and doesn't have the hidden gems the Wii had. It's also saying something I'm missing a lot from the list I'm posting below, I'm sure some could name titles I am not posting that they adored.

In alphabetical order:

bangai-o-image352182.jpg

Bangai-O

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Bomberman Online

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Border Down

cannon-spike-1.jpg

Canon Spike

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Capcom vs SNK 2

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Chu Chu Rocket

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Cool Cool Toon

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Cosmic Smash

b23a89f2b61fa5b06452a2975b485dee-650-80.jpg

Crazy Taxi

D2_dreamcast_009.jpg

D2

9c4dd74b4a47c6396b92700c13e6f1f8-650-80.jpg

Dead or Alive 2

dinocrisis_hdre-615x397.jpg

Dino Crisis (best version available)

dynamitecop.jpg

Dynamite Cop

new-ecco-the-dolphin-625x390.jpg

Ecco The Dolphin: Defenders of the Future

f0170b1323816b6e40b1413d28501211.jpg

Elemental Gimmick Gear

764177-hailtotheking1.jpg

Evil Dead: Hail To The King

e7a8b144784bb459bbe4b65b14edddf0-650-80.jpg

Fighting Vipers 2

dreamcast-41268-41326842073.jpg

Fur Fighters

28b97bfe8e209e7cf7bebe0b9d4222aa-650-80.jpg

Grandia 2

headhunter.jpg

Headhunter

cc45340a0bd307b558b604d121982e38-650-80.jpg

House of the Dead 2

404df421239849dfb5dce4a03697cb7b-650-80.jpg

Hydro Thunder

09b635265d1cf6c315f19ab5777e7416-650-80.jpg

Ikagura

illbleed.png

Illbleed

7e85284c516af3b320d800c4d66a0221-650-80.jpg

Jet Set Radio

lack-of-love-lol-dreamcast.jpg

Lack of Love

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The Last Blade 2: Heart of the Samurai

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Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

xwr5xwxafhvpotc6lkif.jpg

Maken X

mars_matrix.jpg

Mars Matrix: Hyper Solid Shooting

a7551893a5f200bba95350fdd30202b0-650-80.jpg

Marvel Vs Capcom 2

mdk-2-armageddon-image482762.jpg

MDK2

168b7eb3c89508abda12887281f59370-650-80.jpg

Metropolis Street Racer

ce7233e867619b8fb1758fb337569213-650-80.jpg

Mr. Driller

bg20.jpg

Ooga Booga

outtrigger-Dreamcast+Brasil.jpeg

Outrigger

3189fedbeee7e262cece7d98b5ca6d09-650-80.jpg

Phantasy Star Online

4d0aa13fdddce0da99a720f307a73734-650-80.jpg

Power Stone

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Power Stone 2

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Project Justice

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Puyo Puyo Fever

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Quake 3 Arena

6de7630711164c05568500ed07dce4d6-650-80.jpg

Rayman 2: The Great Escape

2d05c42212a0031ae389e5e266c28981-650-80.jpg

Ready 2 Rumble Boxing

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Record of Lodoss War

98F.jpg

Resident Evil 2 (best version available)

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Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (best version available)

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Resident Evil: Code Veronica

Re-Volt_1.jpg

Re-Volt

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Rez

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Samba De Amigo

d5c3a0de097bee1322aea0be2b48f82a-650-80.jpg

San Francisco Rush 2049

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Seaman

17f316d49a128bfef9c75bd55e700622-650-80.jpg

SEGA Bass Fishing

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SEGA Rally 2

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Shadowman (best console version of it)

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Shenmue

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Shenmue 2

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Silver

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Skies of Arcadia

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Soldier of Fortune

0019b2288d34760fcdf62ed4a04d4b1d-650-80.jpg

Soulcaliber

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Sonic Adventure

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Sonic Adventure 2

88eefecb19a1d7f0984371012eadcb4b-650-80.jpg

Space Channel 5

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Space Channel 5 Part 2

b13b43b07e4c7da3860f4baae2803394-650-80.jpg

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike

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Super Magnetic Neo

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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

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Toy Commander

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Typing of the Dead

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Virtua Fighter 3

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Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram

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Virtua Tennis

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Virtua Tennis 2

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Zombie Revenge
 

MacTag

Banned
When did that happen the last time with a Nintendo console?

N64, GameCube or Wii never got the same amount of rosa colored opinions as the other systems of the same timeframe.
I'd argue Gamecube definitely went through a revisionist change in opinion. During it's lifetime pretty much everyone shat on the system but these days it's viewed pretty positively despite it's market failure.
 

shark sandwich

tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
Dreamcast, easily. It had an explosion of fantastic games. A great mix of first & third party, old IP and new. It felt like Sega really poured their heart and soul into the system. Plus a lot of the games felt very fresh and new. E.G. Power Stone, Jet Grind Radio, Space Channel 5, Shenmue, Chu Chu Rocket, Skies of Arcadia, Rez, Phantasy Star Online, etc etc.

Wii U has some great games but it just pales in comparison. The hardware is extremely underwhelming, the gimmick was a flop. Most of the good games are safe sequels to long-running Nintendo franchises, with the notable exception of Splatoon. Third party support is completely dead. We endured drought after drought, punctuated by some stellar but familiar games.
 

angrylamp

Neo Member
Well I have to vote for the Dreamcast, a lot of people forget a few things.

1. Internet, it was the first real console on the internet (Quake ran amazing)
2. Phantasy Star Online was worth the cost alone
3. SegaNET was great
4. Web Browser from day one
5. VOIP, keyboard, and the start of DLC

I remember how amazing it was to get themed dlc for sonic and other games for the different seasons.

Beyond that it had some of the more push forward games before Morrowind game out, such as Shemmue, etc.

Dreamcast forever :)
 
I'm annoyed that Metropolis Street Racer isn't in the OP's list.

It's one of the greatest racers ever released. A LOT of people never played the spiritual precursor to PGR. :*(



The game's graphics blew my mind coming off GT2.

This game was the absolute shit. Loved getting those Kudos.

But overall I liked Wii U way more than dreamcast. Mostly because of Bayonetta 2, Smash 4, Splatoon, and Xenoblade X
 
Sure if you're talking any releases. Personally I wasn't really excited for things like Sengoku Turb or Seventh Cross at the time. Of course by that standard Wii U has around 2-3 releases every week these days, but it still feels like a good amount of time between Nintendo games or indie standouts. I don't think it's really that different.

Virtua Fighter 3tb
Sonic Adventure
Sega Rally Championship 2
Power Stone
The House of the Dead 2
Marvel vs. Capcom
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Soulcalibur

Were all released in the Dreamcast Japan only year. And there were games like Sega Bass Fishing, Seaman, The King of Fighters, Tokyo Xtreme Racer, Dynamite Cop, AeroWings, Puyo Puyo 4 and ChuChu Rocket!.

The WiiU would kill its own mother to have such a drought.
 

Outrun

Member
Having owned both Day One, my vote is Dreamcast.

I loved DK Tropical Freeze, Mario 3D World, Bayonetta 2, SSB, and MK8.
 
Dreamcast had a much shorter life, but similar amount of quality titles. Helped even more by the late EU launch, I feel dreamcast had a relatively better life. If only for how short it was
 
Wii U for me. DC was a great system, but the amount of games I've enjoyed for the WiiU over the last few years has been outstanding.

-Mario Kart 8
-New Super Mario Bros U
-New Super Luigi U
-Super Mario Maker
-Super Mario 3D World
-Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
-Super Smash Bros. Wii U
-Pikmin 3
-Splatoon
-Yoshi's Woolly World
-Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
-Bayonetta
-Bayonetta 2
-The Wonderful 101
-Kirby & The Rainbow Paintbrush
-Hyrule Warriors
-The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
-The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
-Xenoblade Chronicles X
-Pokken Tournament
-Starfox Zero
-Starfox Guard
-Nintendo Land
-Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
-Shovel Knight
-ZombiU
-Rayman Legends
-Teslegrad
-Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash

A huge variety of different games that I've all enjoyed immensely. My XB1 & PS4 collection pales in comparision.
 

shandy706

Member
Well darn, someone made a list with pictures, LOL.

I was taking my time to make my list of games I owned, played, and loved on Dreamcast that isn't just a copy paste of some "Top (whatever)" list.

Metropolis Street Racer
NFL2k
Sega GT
Sword of the Berserk
Shenmue
Hydro Thunder
Skies of Arcadia
Revolt
Shenmue II
Marvel v Capcom 2
Rez
Crazy Taxi
Star Lancer
Sega Fishing
Tokyo Extreme Racer
Rayman 2
Soul Calibur
Dead or Alive 2
Armada
MDK2
Virtua Tennis 2
Wacky Races
F355
Soul Reaver
4 Wheel Thunder
House of the Dead
NHL 2k2
NBA 2k2
Jet Set Radio
Grandia II
Tony Hawk 2
Test Drive Le mans
Rush 2049
Daytona 2001
Dino Crisis
Tech Romancer
Skies of Arcadia
Quake III
Unreal
Virtual On
Chu Chu Rocket
Shadowman
Ikuraga
Sonic Adventure
Soldier of Fortune (also played this on PC)
Ecco
Space Channel 5
Powerstone 2
Phantasy Star Online
Border Down
Multiple Resident Evil Games
Some soccer game I can't remember the name of, LOL

Edit** Forgot Fur Fighters (awesome game) and WSB2k2!

When you look back at a console, nobody really cares about 10 year old sports titles.

When you look at the Dreamcast you do.

Some of those still set the standard. There's yet to be a standard setter like NFL2k.
 
The Wii U will not be remembered fondly.

Disagree there. It had it's issues while it was alive, but when people look at the console and it's library in 10 years they won't see an underpowered console. They will see what games it had and in that sense the Wii U will hold up favorably.

It's hard to miss something that never existed.

When you look back at a console, nobody really cares about 10 year old sports titles.
 

Xion_Stellar

People should stop referencing data that makes me feel uncomfortable because games get ported to platforms I don't like
Dreamcast easily.
 

crpav

Member
Sports fan checking in and when the Dreamcast came out Visual Concepts changed the "face" of sports titles at the time with NFL2k, NBA2k and the World Series Baseball 2k1.

At the time the graphics, gameplay and atmosphere were so much better and higher than what was currently on the market.
 

GhostBed

Member
That's tough...Wii U has one of my favorite Nintendo lineups, but I grew up with the Dreamcast.

Probably have to go with Wii U: Pikmin 3, Splatoon,Smash 4, Xenoblade, are all heavy hitters for me and games that I'll remember for a long time.
 
Disagree there. It had it's issues while it was alive, but when people look at the console and it's library in 10 years they won't see an underpowered console. They will see what games it had and in that sense the Wii U will hold up favorably.

They absolutely will still see an underpowered console in 10 years - just like how people in here are still saying 'just how ahead of time' the Dreamcast was.

The Wii U's reputation is terrible, and it's not going to get much better - if anything it'll probably get worse. You may look at it fondly, but the general consensus is that it was a major flop in pretty much every way. It'll be remembered like the Saturn. So in other words, it'll be forgotten.
 

Kid Ying

Member
I agree with those who says the DC was more groundbreaking. I remember when i first saw Virtua Fighter and simply thought "wow". To me that wasn't possible at all. That and mgs2 were the biggest moments of gaming for me.

Still, it's library to me is grossly overrated. When i finally got the DC, it was disappointment after disappointment and i remember back then most people i knew didnt even wanted to play it, preffering the ps2. My experience with it was really bad. A shame.

Wiiu to me had a bigger number of quality games. Nothing groundbreaking, but more games i wanted to play and more games people wanted to play with me and multiplayer was always a big part of gaming for me.

And its pretty obvious the wiiu will be remembered fondly. The gc was the worst console i've ever had and people love it these days...
 

Boney

Banned
The more interesting thing is that both of these shunned consoles have Sega and Nintendo at the top of their game when it comes to software release since the early 90's (or debatably all time best), yet nobody gave two shits about them.

Though to be fair it took over a year for Nintendo to step it up and Sega was buried under marketing hype.
 

MacTag

Banned
Virtua Fighter 3tb
Sonic Adventure
Sega Rally Championship 2
Power Stone
The House of the Dead 2
Marvel vs. Capcom
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Soulcalibur

Were all released in the Dreamcast Japan only year. And there were games like Sega Bass Fishing, Seaman, The King of Fighters, Tokyo Xtreme Racer, Dynamite Cop, AeroWings, Puyo Puyo 4 and ChuChu Rocket!.

The WiiU would kill its own mother to have such a drought.
New Super Mario Bros. U
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Rayman Legends
Pikmin 3
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
Need for Speed Most Wanted U
The Wonderful 101

Plus more like TTT2, ZombiU, Darksiders 2, Assassin's Creed 3, COD BLOPS2, Trine 2, Nan Assault Neo, Nintendo Land, Sonic Racing Transformed, NSLU , Toki Tori 2, Runner 2, Lego City Undercover, Little Inferno, Mass Effect 3, Splinter Cell Blacklist, RE Revelations, Ducktales Remastered, Batman AC and plenty of others. I guess Wii U had a pretty amazing year one too then, what droughts?

Funny how looking at things in retrospect can shift so far from our personal experience at the time.
 
Dreamcast was ahead of its time. It was one of the best consoles ever made. As for TC's question it's not even a competition for me. Dreamcast was better hands down. I think a more fitting question would have been what failed more n64 or WiiU? I also think GC was the best nintendo console with the best library. Yes better than SNES or NES.
 

bronk

Banned
Wii U was the worst console i've owned in my life. Glad I sold it for a good price. I liked the wii and loved every other Nintendo console. As for Dreamcast that system is amazing and im sad she died so soon :'(
 

Springy

Member
Darksiders 2, Assassin's Creed 3, COD BLOPS2, Sonic Racing Transformed, Mass Effect 3, Splinter Cell Blacklist, RE Revelations, Batman AC and plenty of others. I guess Wii U had a pretty amazing year one too then, what droughts?

Funny how looking at things in retrospect can shift so far from our personal experience at the time.
All that I've included above were inferior ports of 360/PS3 games. Imagine if DC's first year included a slate of games that looked and ran better on PS1.
 
New Super Mario Bros. U
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Rayman Legends
Pikmin 3
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
Need for Speed Most Wanted U
The Wonderful 101

Plus more like TTT2, ZombiU, Darksiders 2, Assassin's Creed 3, COD BLOPS2, Trine 2, Nan Assault Neo, Nintendo Land, Sonic Racing Transformed, NSLU , Toki Tori 2, Runner 2, Lego City Undercover, Little Inferno, Mass Effect 3, Splinter Cell Blacklist, RE Revelations, Ducktales Remastered, Batman AC and plenty of others. I guess Wii U had a pretty amazing year one too then, what droughts?

Funny how looking at things in retrospect can shift so far from our personal experience at the time.

I'm not sure what's your point is outside of proving how unremarkable the first year of the WiiU was, if just the Japanese output of the Dreamcast is running circle around the WiiU.
 
I'm too young to know for sure, but I have to imagine the Dreamcast was more impressive at the time than the Wii U is now. The variety and imagination present in the Dreamcast library is honestly still very impressive as far as exclusive line-ups go, and they took some genuine risks with the hardware (which didn't pay off, but are still noteworthy). I don't really like Sega or the "feel" of a lot of their games, but what they pulled off in such a short time on the Dreamcast remains impressive. Besides maybe the Genesis era, the Dreamcast is still the highest point Sega has reached.

With that said, looking at it today, I wouldn't want to touch 90% of the Dreamcast's hot dumpster fire of poorly aged games with a 10 foot pole, let alone that monstrosity of a controller. Meanwhile, if past Nintendo consoles are any indication, I'll be replaying Smash Bros, Donkey Kong, Mario, etc. for years to come.

The Dreamcast is more interesting, but the Wii U is just more solid.
 
Dreamcast had third party support, killer arcade ports, and insane support from Sega and Capcom especially.

Wii U has basically just Nintendo and months or years late ports of both AAA and indie games I've already played on PC. Gotta go with Dreamcast.
 

Petrae

Member
When you look back at a console, nobody really cares about 10 year old sports titles.

When I look back at WiiU, I can easily spot that there were next to no sports titles. Can't say that about the Dreamcast. In fact, the yearly iterations of the 2K games aren't as important as the first wave of them. NFL2K and NBA2K made people sit up and take notice as legitimate competition to what EA was doing for Sony.

WiiU will be forever known as the anti-sports console. Good for the hardcorest of the hardcore who term sports games as "sportsball" or some other such shit, but a major turn-off for everyone else-- and a legitimate factor (among many others) why WiiU was such a miserable failure at retail.
 
For me, personally, the Dreamcast was a short-lived, but awesome party. I am incredibly biased because I have played way more PSO than I should have, however.

The Wii U had a couple of games that I really liked, but the library as a whole hasn't really clicked with me.
 

Fox Mulder

Member
The Dreamcast if everything is adjusted for their time.

Online, arcade ports, fucking amazing sports titles, shenmue, and a list of unique first party titles.

The wiiu has great games, but many are iterations and the touch screen never caught on or added much. The wiiu VC even sucks ass compared to what they did on the Wii.
 
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